Method and system for delivering video content from multiple platforms to subscribers

ABSTRACT

An integrated content delivery interface enables a user to access content from a multi-channel service provider (such as a cable television service) and over-the-top sources. The system displays a set of cable channels and over-the-top channels based on a combination of the user&#39;s subscription status for the various services, personalization criteria, and device type. The system may provide the user with a playlist of available videos for each channel. For videos from over-the-top sources, when a user selects the video for on-demand play the user&#39;s device will directly access the video as served by the over-the-top source. Before including any video in the playlist, the system will ensure that the video is available to the user based on subscription status and/or device type, and it will ensure that the over-the-top source serves the video in a format that is compatible with the user&#39;s device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This patent document is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/973,902, titled “Method and System for Delivering Video Contentfrom Multiple Platforms to Subscribers,” filed Aug. 22, 2013.

This patent document is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/973,887, titled “Integrated Cable and Over-The-Top Video ContentDelivery System;” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/973,915, (now U.S.Pat. No. 8,826,347) titled “Method and System for Creating VideoChannels for Delivery of Content from Multiple Platforms;” each of whichwas filed on Aug. 22, 2013.

This patent document is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/218,272, titled “Integrated Cable and Over-The-Top Video ContentDelivery System”; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/218,285, (nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,027,065) titled “Method and System for Creating VideoChannels for Delivery of Content from Multiple Platforms”; each of whichwas filed on Mar. 18, 2014.

This patent document is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/703,640, (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,241,179) titled “Method and System forCreating Video Channels for Delivery of Content From Multiple Platforms”which was filed on May 4, 2015.

This patent document is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/218,262, (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,869,207) titled “Method and System forDelivering Video Content from Multiple Platforms to Subscribers” whichwas filed on Mar. 18, 2014.

The disclosures of each document listed above are fully incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Consumers of on-demand video content today have an ever-growing numberof content sources available to them, and they want to receive thatcontent easily on a wide variety of devices. Content providers such ascable television service providers want to reach these consumers, butcontent licensing restrictions may prohibit the service providers fromproviding their subscribers with all content in any location on anydevice. Depending on the owner of the content, the provider may only beable to make the content available for on-demand viewing in certaingeographic regions, via licensed devices. However, because of aninability to manage the licensing rights, cable television serviceproviders may limit the content and/or the means of access that theymake available to their subscribers.

In addition, various Internet-based video sources may deliver content ina manner that is optimized for one device (such as a smart phone), butwhose viewing quality is not optimal for another device (such as anInternet-connected gaming device that is connected to a high definitiontelevision). This can lead to frustration for consumers, as well as lossof customers by cable service providers.

This document describes improved methods and systems for deliveringvideo content from multiple platforms to subscribers.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a method and system for providing both cable andover-the-top videos to a subscriber includes a processor, one or moredata storage facilities containing data about available video assets,and memory containing programming instructions that cause a contentdelivery interface to be presented to a subscriber on a display of anelectronic device. The content delivery interface includes a first setof user-selectable channels that are served by a multi-channel videoservice provider and a second set of user-selectable channels that areserved by over-the-top video content sources that are not under anycontrol of the service provider. When the system receives a userselection of a channel, it may select (either based on programminginstructions or in response to a user selection) a first video assetfrom a playlist of available video assets for the channel, and it maypresent the video asset to the user via the interface such as byincluding a thumbnail image, a title, or other identificationinformation for the asset. If the user desires to watch the video asset,the system may identify a device type for the electronic device,determine a delivery address for an over-the-top video source from whichthe first video asset may be served in a format that is compatible withthe device type, and enable the first video as served from theover-the-top source's delivery address to be presented to the user viathe interface.

In some embodiments, the system may generate the playlist by identifyinga set of available video assets to be candidates for inclusion in theplaylist while filtering any assets that are not available from anydelivery address in a format that is compatible with the device type.The system also may determine a geographic location for the device and,for any asset associated with a geographic rule, it may determinewhether the current location satisfies the rule, and include the assetin the playlist only if the device's current location satisfies theasset's associated geographic rule. In addition, if personalization datais available for the user, then when selecting videos for inclusion inthe playlist the system may access a video content database containingmetadata for candidate video assets and select those assets that satisfyone or more personalization criteria.

Optionally, the system may receive new content on a periodic basis fromone or more of the over-the-top video sources, and it may update theplaylist to replace older content with the new content.

In some embodiments, the user may provide the system with connectioninformation for a social media feed. If so, the system may monitor thesocial media feed to identify any video assets that are linked in thefeed and create a playlist comprising identifying information for therecently-linked video assets from the feed. In response to a userselection of a channel that contains the playlist, the system may causethe sequence of recently-linked video assets as served by over-the-topvideo content sources to be presented to the user via the interface.Similarly, the system may receive user subscription information for athird party video content source, monitor the third party video contentsource to identify any new video assets that are made available to theuser, and create a playlist comprising identifying information for newvideo assets from the third party video source. In response to a userselection of a channel that contains the playlist, the system may causethe sequence of new video assets as served by the third party videocontent source to be presented to the user via the interface.

In some embodiments, the system may present a search field to a user,receive a search query via the search field, cause a search service toidentify responsive video assets from over-the-top content sources, andcreate a playlist comprising identifying information for a sequence ofthe responsive video assets from the feed. When a user selects a channelthat contains the playlist, the system may cause information identifyingthe sequence of the responsive video assets as served by over-the-topvideo content sources to be presented to the user via the userinterface.

In some embodiments, the system may select the first set ofuser-selectable channels by accessing a profile for the user,identifying a package of channels to which the user subscribes, anddesignating the first set of channels as those channels served by themulti-channel service provider as part of the package. The system mayselect the second set of user-selectable channels based on user profiledata so that at least one of the second set of user-selectable channelsincludes an over-the-top content source for which the user profileincludes an authentication credential.

In an alternate embodiment, a system for providing video content to asubscriber includes a computer-readable medium comprising programminginstructions that, when executed, cause a processor to implement acontent delivery interface at an electronic device. The interfacepresents a user with a first set of user-selectable channels that areserved by a multi-channel video service provider and a second set ofuser-selectable channels that are served by over-the-top video contentsources that are not under any control of the service provider. Thesystem receives a user selection of a channel, identifies a device typefor the electronic device and generates a playlist. Playlist generationmay include: identifying a set of video assets that are available forthe channel; selecting, from the set of video assets, a subset of thevideo assets that satisfy one or more personalization criteria; andremoving from the subset any video assets that are not available fromany delivery address in a format that is compatible with the devicetype. The system may include any remaining video assets in the subset inthe playlist and present the playlist to the user. When the systemidentifies a video from the playlist to present to the user via theelectronic device, it will determine a delivery address from which thevideo may be served in a format that is compatible with the device type,and it will cause the first video as served from the delivery address tobe presented to the user via the interface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates various elements that may beincluded in an integrated video content delivery system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a home screen for an integrated videocontent delivery system.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a programming guide screen for anintegrated video content delivery system.

FIG. 4 illustrates an additional example of a programming guide screenfor an integrated video content delivery system.

FIG. 5 is an example of a process flow for a video content deliverysystem.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating various hardware components thatmay be included in or be used with an integrated content deliverysystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used in this document, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skillin the art. As used in this document, the term “comprising” means“including, but not limited to.”

This document describes a system that integrates video content from acable television service provider and one or more over-the-top sources.This document uses the term “cable television service provider” orsimply “service provider” to refer to a service provider thatdistributes multiple broadcast and subscription-based video channels tosubscribers. The cable television service provider may supply thechannels via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through a networkof coaxial and/or fiber optic cables, via direct broadcast satellitetransmissions, or by other delivery means. Thus, when this document usesthe term “cable television service provider,” it is intended to includeall such subscription-based providers including traditional cabletelevision providers, satellite television providers and the like.

An “over the top” (OTT) source is a common term used to refer to asource of video content that is not affiliated with the cable televisionservice provider, but the service provider may facilitate access to theOTT source by its subscribers. OTT sources typically provide digitalvideo signals via digital communication networks such as the Internet.

When this document uses the term “electronic device” or “media player,”it refers to any device having a processor and a display that is capableof receiving digital signals and displaying video that corresponds tothe signals. Examples include televisions, smartphones, tabletcomputers, desktop computers, laptop computers, media players, networkedprojection devices, electronic gaming systems and the like.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of various components of a system forintegrating cable and OTT content. Video content is made available tothe consumer via one or more communications networks 123 such as theInternet and/or a cable television service provider network. The videocontent may be served by a cable service provider data server 120 andany number of OTT content sources 130 through the communications network123.

The consumer may receive the content delivered through the networks viaany number of devices. For example, the consumer may receive content viaa computer 111 that is connected to the network via a modem 103 orequivalent communication interface. The consumer also may receivecontent served to a content delivery device 105 such as a television,computing device or other electronic device having a display. The cableservice provider may deliver the content to the consumer's device via acable set-top box 101. The set-top box 101 may be a separate device fromthe content delivery device 105, or it may comprise one more hardwarecomponents that are integrated into the content delivery device 105. Theconsumer also may view OTT content on the display 105, and a mediaplayer box 110 may provide the consumer with a display interface thatintegrates the cable service provider's content and the OTT content. Inaddition, the consumer may receive content via any number of wired orwireless electronic video player devices such as a tablet 106,smartphone 107, laptop computer 109 or any other video player such as agaming machine or wireless-enabled television. Any or all of theelectronic communication provided to any of the devices described abovemay be via a wired connection and/or a wireless connection such as amobile phone network, wi-fi or other long range, short range or nearfield communications network.

The system also may include a data storage facility containing profiledata 140 for one or more subscribers of a service, such as cabletelevision service providers. The profile data 140 may includeinformation such as subscriber authentication information that can beused to verify that a user who accesses the system is actually asubscriber, user preference information such as services and/orplaylists that the user has selected to display on various screens (aswill be described below). The profile data 140 also may includesubscription details such as authentication information or a serviceprovider subscription confirmation token for one or more OTT sources.The OTT sources may be, for example, video streaming services or socialmedia services that may or may not be affiliated with the cabletelevision service provider. Although FIG. 1 illustrates the profiledata 140 as being directly accessed by the cable service provider server120, any or all of the profile data 140 may be additionally oralternatively stored on any of the subscriber's electronic devicesand/or on any remote data storage facility.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a home screen 200 that may be served toa display of a consumer's electronic device via an integrated videocontent delivery system such as that described above. Optionally, thehome screen may include a background portion 210 and a foregroundportion 220 that obscures at least a portion of the background portion.The background portion, if provided, may display a feed of a broadcastor subscription-based channel from the cable television serviceprovider. The feed displayed in the background may correspond to thechannel to which the cable service provider set top box (element 110 inFIG. 1) is set, or it may be a default channel such as a designated“home” channel that is used in a closed circuit system such as a hotelor entertainment venue. The media center set top box may be programmedto process the background feed so that it is displayed with lowbrightness or in another muted format that is not as clear or as brightas the original feed.

The foreground portion or another portion of the home screen displays amenu 240 of user-selectable inputs applications (apps) that connect orotherwise relate to for various programming services, at least some ofwhich are provided by OTT sources. The services may be presented asicons, as shown, with various icons corresponding to an InternetProtocol (IP) address of a website or to a software application(sometimes referred to as an app) installed on the set-top box. At leastsome of the services will be associated with third party contentavailable via an IP address. The available apps may include OTT serviceapps 230 that provide addresses for, and/or which facilitate access to,various sites where video content is available. Examples include socialmedia apps (e.g., Facebook, Vine or Instagram), video sharing apps(e.g., YouTube and/or apps for broadcast network sites such as NBC.comand ABC.com), and subscription-based video content delivery apps (e.g.,Netflix or Hulu). The icons or other channel representations included inthe user-selectable menu may correspond to a package of content to whichthe user has purchased a subscription from the cable service provider,to one or more OTT content sources or cable channels that the user hasdesignated as being a favorite channel, and/or to one or more cablechannels or OTT sources that the cable service provider desires topromote to the user.

In addition, at least one of the user-selectable inputs may, whenselected, launch an integrated programming guide app 220 that displays aprogramming guide screen rather than an external source. An exampleprogramming guide screen will be discussed below in the context of FIG.3. When the user turns on the display of an electronic device and/ormedia player pass through box, the system may retrieve the content menufrom the cable service provider via the communications network anddisplay it in the foreground or otherwise to the user.

The consumer's media player and/or the cable provider's server mayinclude computer-readable instructions that, when executed, cause theelectronic device to display the home screen as described above. Theinstructions may include, for example, a launcher application thatimplements a rule set to retrieve the menu of user-selectable icons fromthe cable service provider server and present them on the home screen.The rule set may include a rule to always apply one or more default appicons (such as a programming guide icon, or an icon for one or morepreferred sources), along with one or more app icons that correspond touser-selected settings. Example icons include icons for apps that theuser of the media player box wants to integrate with the cable service;icons corresponding to channels, packages or other services to which theuser subscribes; or icons corresponding to apps, channels or otherservices that the cable service provider designates for promotion to theuser. The instructions also may include a programming guide applicationthat generates an integrated programming guide for the cable serviceprovider content and OTT content.

Optionally, the app icons displayed by the launcher application may varybased on the device on which the home screen is displayed and/or thesubscriber's subscription status for the various services associatedwith the apps. For example, to access the content delivery system, theuser of the device may be required to log into the device or app usingan authentication credential such as a user name and password. Oncelogged in, the user may enter profile data, or the launcher applicationmay cause the device to access locally or remotely stored profile data,that includes information that identifies the type of device being used.Alternatively, the launcher application may include instructions thatcause the system to identify device information by reading locallystored profile information that is embedded in the device itself. Beforeselecting an icon to display on the home screen, the launcherapplication may identify a service (such as a content source) associatedwith the icon, identify the user, and identify the device. Beforepermitting an icon to be displayed on the home screen, the applicationmay access a local or remote authorization service that compares theidentified data to authentication credentials to ensure that the userand/or the device are authorized for the service. If the device and/oruser lack authorization for the service, then the launcher applicationwill not permit that service's icon to be displayed.

If, from the home screen, the user selects the programming guide appicon 220, a programming guide application on the user's device and/or aremote server may cause the user's device to display a unifiedprogramming guide interface. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a unifiedprogramming guide interface 300. A first portion of the interface is amedia player 301 that displays video corresponding to a cable televisionchannel to which the user's cable service provider set top box is set orwhich the cable service is serving to the user via a remote server.Alternatively, the media player may display video from an OTT sourcethat the user has selected. If the user implements a command via theinterface or via a connected set top box to change the cable channel, orif the user or selects another OTT source via the programming guide,then the media player 301 may update and display the video that is beingtransmitted on the newly-selected channel or received from thenewly-selected OTT source. Alternatively, the media player may display athumbnail or other fixed image or text corresponding to such content. Asecond portion of the interface will include a channel selector 303 thatdisplays identifying information for a set of channels that areavailable for the viewer to view. The channels will include broadcastand/or subscription-based channels from the cable service provider, aswell as one or more channels from OTT sources, in a seamless format thatdoes not require the user to change the interface other than to scrollor otherwise move among the channels. The available channels maycorrespond to a package of channels that the cable service providerprovides to the user, along with channels of OTT content that the useris permitted to access.

As the user scrolls through the available channels, the programmingguide interface will also include an asset listing interface 310 thatdisplays a set of available content on a featured one of the availablechannels. The featured channel whose content is displayed in the assetlisting interface 310 may correspond to the channel that is in a firstposition in the channel selector 303, at a different standard position,or at a position corresponding to a user selection. Each OTT contentasset may be associated with metadata that includes an address of an OTTsource where the content asset (i.e., video) is available. When a userselects an asset from the asset listing interface, the box or anotherpart of the system may use the address to identify the OTT source,retrieve the asset from the asset's corresponding OTT source or connectto an external media player that is available at the asset'scorresponding delivery address, and cause the video asset to bedisplayed via the media player 301 or in a full screen format.

The example of FIG. 3 shows an example programming guide where the assetlisting interface lists available on-demand assets 305 a . . . 305 n(i.e., videos) from a selected OTT source. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment ofthe programming guide interface 400 in which the user has selected acable broadcast channel 413 from the channel selector 403. In thissituation, when a user selects a channel 413, the asset listinginterface 410 will display a menu of upcoming programs 405 a . . . 405 non the selected channel in chronological order, optionally with start,stop and/or run length times. Optionally, in the asset listing interface410, the menu listing for the program that is currently being broadcaston the selected channel may include a play input that a user may selectto cause the program to be displayed via the media player 401 or in afull screen format.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating various steps that a multi-platformvideo content delivery system may implement. A data storage facility ofthe system will hold data for a set of available video channels 501 andone or more video assets that are available via the channel. Some or allof the data storage facility may be maintained on a local electronicdevice of a consumer, while some or all of the data storage facility maybe maintained on a remote memory device, such as a cable televisionservice provider data storage facility. Some of the video channels willbe content sources that are controlled by a multi-channel video serviceprovider, such as a cable television service provider, such astraditional broadcast and cable channels whose delivery to the consumeris part of a cable television service package. Other video channels inthe set will be OTT content sources that are not under any control ofthe service provider, such as third party audio or video streamingservices, on-demand video sharing websites, and social media sites onwhich members may share video content.

The system will generate and cause a display of the consumer'selectronic device to display a content delivery interface 505, such asthe interface 300 illustrated in FIG. 3. To determine which channels toinclude in the content delivery interface, the system may determine aset of channels that are available to the consumer 503. Theidentification of these channels may be maintained by the video serviceprovider in a user profile in the data storage facility, and/or aportion of it may be maintained in a memory of the user's electronicdevice. To be available to the consumer, the user's profile data mayinclude data indicating that the user has subscribed to a package ofchannels, and some or all channels that are included in the package maybe listed in the content delivery interface. For OTT sources, if the OTTsource requires an authentication credential in order to serve videos,the system's rule set may require that the user profile data include theauthentication credential. Before including the channel in the listing,the system also may send a signal to the OTT source to verify that theauthentication credential is valid and will actually provide access tothe videos at the OTT source. In this way, the content deliveryinterface will only include channels that the user is actually permittedto view, whether it be because the user has subscribed to the channelsvia the video service provider or because the user has subscribed to therelevant OTT service.

The consumer may use the content delivery interface to select channelsfor viewing on the display. The available channels may be presented inchannel selector interface, such as interface 303 of FIG. 3. Thechannels will include some channels that are served by the multi-channelvideo service provider, while others channels will be served by OTTsources.

Referring again to FIG. 5, when the system receives a consumer'sselection of one of the available channels 507, the system will access aplaylist of available video assets for the channel and select a videoasset 509 to present to the consumer via the user interface. The datastorage facility may include the data for available video assets on eachchannel. This data will not necessarily include the video assetsthemselves, but rather will include programming guide data describingthe video asset such as title, run time and genre. For video assetsavailable from OTT sources, the data will also include one or moredelivery addresses where the video assets are available to be served bythe OTT source. The delivery address may be, for example, an IP addresswhere the OTT source makes the video asset available for streaming. Thedata storage facility also may include compatibility data, such as afile type or rights management data, that the content delivery systemmay use to assess whether the asset as served by the OTT source at thedelivery address is compatible with the device on which the consumer isattempting to view the asset. For example, the compatibility data mayinclude a device type, a resolution capability of the device, or anauthentication credential for a user of the device.

Optionally, before the consumer selects a video asset, and before theconsumer selects a channel or when the system displays a channel listingto the consumer, the system may generate the playlist of available videoassets 515 such that the playlist only includes assets that arecompatible with the user's electronic device. As a precursor to or aspart of generating the playlist 515, the system may identify availablevideo assets on the channel to be candidates for inclusion in theplaylist, while filtering any assets that are not available from anyknown, trusted, authorized or otherwise available delivery address thatdo not serve the asset in a format that is compatible with the user'sdevice type 511. The system may do this with any suitable method, suchas by applying a compatibility rule to metadata for a candidate assetand identifying data for the user or the user's device. For example, themetadata for the video asset may include a file or media player type,and the compatibility rule may state that the system should only includethe asset in the playlist if the user's device is able to play thefile/player type. As another example, if the user's device is capable ofplaying videos at a certain format (such as 720p or 1080p), then ifmultiple sources are available the system may select the asset anddelivery address that provides the asset in a format matching a formatthat the device is capable of playing. The device's format may be knownbased on system knowledge of the device, or it may be stored in theuser's profile data.

Optionally, to determine whether to include a video asset in theplaylist, if the system's data for a candidate video asset includes ageographic restriction, the system may determine a current location forthe user's device using geographic positioning system (GPS) orequivalent data that it retrieves from the user's device, and the systemmay filter any candidate assets whose geographic data dues not meet thecriteria of the restriction. In this way, only those assets for whom thedevice's current location does not violate the geographic restrictionwill be included in the playlist.

Before the device will actually display the video asset to the consumer,the system may identify a device type for the user's device, and use thedevice type data to determine (based on information in the data storagefacility) a delivery address from which the first video asset may beserved in a format that is compatible with the user's device type. Theuser's electronic device may then access the video as served by thedetermined delivery address and display the video to the user via theuser interface 519. In this way, the video service provider can ensurethat the consumer only views videos that are compatible with theconsumer's device, and that OTT videos are served directly by the OTTsource.

Optionally, to expedite the generation and display of playlists, whenthe system generates a playlist of available content for any channel,the system may store that playlist in the user's device's memory and/orin a remote data storage facility. The system may then make this storedplaylist available the next time that the user selects the channel thatis associated with the playlist. Upon user selection of a channel, orperiodically when the user is online or offline, the system maydetermine whether new content is available for the channel 521. Thesystem may do this using any suitable means, such as by periodicallyaccessing and analyzing the content available at an OTT source'swebsite, or by receiving a notification from an OTT source via asyndication service or other content feed. If new content is available,the system may add the new content to the playlist 523 and optionallyremove older content from the playlist 525 to generate an updatedplaylist 515. For example, the system may apply a rule to include aspecified number of video assets in the playlist, and when new contentis available it will add the new content while deleting older content sothat only the specified number of assets remains in the playlist. If newcontent is not available, or if the system has already identified thenew content, then the system may generate the playlist using storedcontent data for the channel 527.

In many situations, when selecting videos for inclusion in a playlistfor a channel 509, a wide variety of videos may be available from thechannel's source. If so, the system may apply rules that include one ormore personalization criteria to determine which of the available videosto include in a playlist. The personalization criteria may includestored data relating to the user's preference for certain titles,genres, actors, producers or other characteristics of videos; datarelating to the user's prior viewing habits; or data relating to certainvideos or types of videos that the video service provider designates forpromotion to the consumer. For example, if the OTT source is asubscription based video service such as Netflix or Hulu, and if thestored data includes that the user has watched an episode or sequence ofepisodes of a certain program via that service or another service, thenthe system may select the next episode in the sequence for inclusion inthe playlist. The system may monitor the OTT source to determine whennew videos are posted at the OTT source. If so, then when creating theplaylist the system may include a sequence of the new videos in theplaylist. As another example, if the video service provider desires topromote an upcoming episode of a program on a cable channel, theplaylist may include previous episodes of that program that areavailable via an OTT source.

As another example, if the OTT source is a social media sharing site,the personalization criteria may include rules to show videos that areposted by particular individuals who are connected to the user on thesocial media sharing site. The user may provide the system withconnection information—such as an authentication credential and/or feedaddress—for a social media feed. If so, the system may monitor thesocial media feed to identify any video assets that are linked in thefeed. The video assets may be served by the social media service, or thesocial media service may merely publish links to the videos as served byone or more other OTT sources. When creating the playlist 515, thesystem may create the playlist to include a sequence of recently-linkedvideo assets from the feed. When the user selects a channel thatcontains the playlist, it may present, via the user interface, aplaylist that includes the sequence of recently-linked video assets asserved by over-the-top video content sources

As another option, the system may present a search field that the usermay use to enter one or more criteria to search for available videosfrom multiple sources. The search field may accept any information suchas title, genre, actors, producers, OTT source identifiers or othercriteria. The search function may be provided by the video serviceprovider, or it may be a third party search function that is madeavailable via the content delivery interface. When the system generatesor receives search results, if the search results include links to videoassets then when selecting video assets to include in a playlist 509 itmay include some or all of the assets that are linked in the searchresults. To determine which of the search results' videos to include inthe playlist, the system may apply any suitable criteria, such as thecompatibility rules, geographic restrictions and/or personalizationcriteria discussed above.

In another embodiment, the system may automatically search for relevantvideos from one or more OTT sources based on information provided by asubscriber via a control device. For example, a subscriber's mobileelectronic device may include any now or hereafter known audiorecognition service to identify a song, television show, or movie thatis playing within an audial reach of the device. When the device detectsthe sound, it may recognize the audio content and determine identifyinginformation for it (such as by song title and artist). Such recognitionservices are known and not new. However, in a novel feature, the devicemay send this information to the system's search engine, and the systemmay search for OTT sources that contain videos that are related to theaudio content. The system may then return a menu of these OTT-sourcedvideos, and it may automatically generate a playlist of the videos forthe subscriber to view via the programming interface.

When displaying videos in a playlist, if the channel is a real-timebroadcast then the playlist may include start times, stop times, and/orrun times for the videos. An example of this is shown in FIG. 4, wherestart times and end times are shown for each video in the playlist 410.In contrast, on-demand channels comprising videos served by OTT sourcesmay be arranged in any order, such as newest to oldest (or vice versa),or ordered based on any personalization criteria. An example of aplaylist of on-demand videos from OTT sources 310 is shown in FIG. 3. Inthe example of FIG. 3, the playlist 310 is a personalized playlist for amulti-source channel that includes videos available from multiple OTTsources. The system may generate the personalized playlist for themulti-source channel based on any suitable personalization criteria,such as those described above.

FIG. 6 depicts an example of internal hardware that may be used tocontain or implement the various computer processes and systems asdiscussed above. For example, the user electronic device and/ormulti-channel video content service provider system as discussed abovemay include hardware architecture such as that illustrated in FIG. 6. Anelectrical bus 600 serves as an information highway interconnecting theother illustrated components of the hardware. CPU 605 is a centralprocessing unit of the system, performing calculations and logicoperations required to execute a program. CPU 605, alone or inconjunction with one or more of the other elements disclosed in FIG. 6,is a processing device, computing device or processor as such terms areused within this disclosure. When this disclosure and the associatedclaims use the term “processor,” unless specifically stated otherwise itis intended to include all embodiments having either a single processoror a group of processors that collectively perform various functions.Read only memory (ROM) 610 and random access memory (RAM) 615 constituteexamples of memory devices.

A controller 620 interfaces with one or more optional memory devices 625that service as date storage facilities to the system bus 600. Thesememory devices 625 may include, for example, an external disk drive, ahard drive, flash memory, a USB drive or another type of device thatserves as a data storage facility. As indicated previously, thesevarious drives and controllers are optional devices. Additionally, thememory devices 625 may be configured to include individual files forstoring any software modules or instructions, auxiliary data, incidentdata, common files for storing groups of contingency tables and/orregression models, or one or more databases for storing the informationas discussed above.

Program instructions, software or interactive modules for performing anyof the functional steps associated with the processes as described abovemay be stored in the ROM 610 and/or the RAM 615. Optionally, the programinstructions may be stored on a tangible computer readable medium suchas a compact disk, a digital disk, flash memory, a memory card, a USBdrive, an optical disc storage medium, such as a Blu-ray™ disc, and/orother recording medium.

A display interface 640 may permit information from the bus 600 to bedisplayed on the display 645 in audio, visual, graphic or alphanumericformat. Communication with external devices may occur using variouscommunication ports 650. A communication port 650 may be attached to acommunications network, such as the Internet, a local area network or acellular telephone data network.

The hardware may also include an interface 655 which allows for receiptof data from input devices such as a keyboard 660 or other input device665 such as a remote control, a pointing device, a video input deviceand/or an audio input device.

The above-disclosed features and functions, as well as alternatives, maybe combined into many other different systems or applications. Variouspresently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications,variations or improvements may be made by those skilled in the art, eachof which is also intended to be encompassed by the disclosedembodiments.

1. A method for providing video content to a user, comprising:presenting an identifying symbol for each user-selectable channel of aset of user-selectable channels in a first row of a content deliveryinterface of an electronic device, the user-selectable channels beingserved by a plurality of different over-the-top (“OTT”) video contentsources to which the user subscribes and are not under any control of aservice provider; presenting a first playlist of first identifyinginformation for video assets available from a first channel of theuser-selectable channels in a second row of the content deliveryinterface concurrently with the presentation of the identifying symbolsfor the set of user-selectable channels in the first row of the contentdelivery interface; receiving a user input selecting the identifyingsymbol associated with a second channel from the set of user-selectablechannels in the first row of the content delivery interface that is ofinterest to the user; and in response to the reception of the userinput, dynamically replacing the first playlist with a second playlistof second identifying information for video assets exclusively availablefrom the selected second channel, the second playlist being presented inthe second row of the content delivery interface concurrently with thepresentation of the identifying symbols for the set of user-selectablechannels in the first row of the content delivery interface; whereineach of the first and second identifying information comprises at leastone visual image or graphic symbol.
 2. A method for providing mediacontent to a user, comprising: presenting an identifying symbol for eachuser-selectable channel of a first set of user-selectable channels in afirst section of a content delivery interface of an electronic device,the user-selectable channels being served by a plurality of differentover-the-top (“OTT”) video content sources to which a user subscribesand which are not under any control of a service provider; presenting afirst playlist of first identifying information for video assetsavailable from a first channel of the user-selectable channels in asecond section of the content delivery interface concurrently with thepresentation of the identifying symbols for the first set ofuser-selectable channels in the first section of the content deliveryinterface; receiving at least a portion of a first media item of a firsttype that is playing within reach of the electronic device; processingthe first media item to determine second identifying informationtherefore; using the second identifying information to search theplurality of different OTT content sources for purposes of identifyingat least one first OTT content source from which a plurality of secondmedia items related to the first media item is made available, eachsecond media item being of a second type that is different than thefirst type of the first media item; automatically generating a secondplaylist of third identifying information for the plurality of secondmedia items available from a second channel of the user-selectablechannels being served by the at least one first OTT content source; anddynamically replacing the first playlist with the second playlist sothat the second playlist is presented in the second section of thecontent delivery interface.
 3. The method according to claim 2, whereinthe first type is audio, the second type is video, and said processingthe first media item means identifying the audio playing within reach ofthe electronic device.
 4. The method according to claim 2, wherein thefirst and third identifying information comprises at least one visualimage or graphic symbol.
 5. The method according to claim 2, wherein asecond set of user-selectable channels is also presented in the firstsection of the content delivery interface along with the first set ofuser-selectable channels, the user-selectable channels of the second setbeing served by the service provider.
 6. The method according to claim2, wherein the third identifying information is selected to exclusivelyidentify media assets in a format compatible with that supported by theelectronic device.
 7. The method according to claim 2, wherein the thirdidentifying information is selected to exclusively identify media assetsfor whom the electronic device's current location does not violate ageographic restriction.
 8. The method according to claim 2, furthercomprising updating the second playlist to include fourth identifyinginformation for new media items available from the second channel of theuser-selectable channels being served by the at least one first OTTcontent source.
 9. The method according to claim 2, further comprisingupdating the second playlist to remove at least some of the thirdidentifying information for media items that are no longer availablefrom the second channel of the user-selectable channels being served bythe at least one first OTT content source.
 10. The method according toclaim 2, wherein the second playlist is displayed in the second sectionof the content delivery interface concurrently with the presentation ofuser-selectable identifying symbols for the different OTT contentsources in the first section of the content delivery interface.
 11. Themethod according to claim 2, wherein the first section of the contentdelivery interface is a first row and the second section of the contentdelivery interface is a second row located below the first row.
 12. Asystem, comprising: a processor; and a computer-readable mediumcomprising programming instructions that are configured to cause theprocessor to implement a content delivery interface at an electronicdevice, wherein the programming instructions comprise instructions to:present an identifying symbol for each user-selectable channel of afirst set of user-selectable channels in a first section of a contentdelivery interface of an electronic device, the user-selectable channelsbeing served by a plurality of different over-the-top (“OTT”) videocontent sources to which a user subscribes and which are not under anycontrol of a service provider; present a first playlist of firstidentifying information for video assets available from a first channelof the user-selectable channels in a second section of the contentdelivery interface concurrently with the presentation of the identifyingsymbols for the first set of user-selectable channels in the firstsection of the content delivery interface; receive at least a portion ofa first media item of a first type that is playing within reach of theelectronic device; process the first media item to determine secondidentifying information therefore; use the second identifyinginformation to search the plurality of different OTT content sources forpurposes of identifying at least one first OTT content source from whicha plurality of second media items related to the first media item ismade available, each second media item being of a second type that isdifferent than the first type of the first media item; automaticallygenerate a second playlist of third identifying information for theplurality of second media items available from a second channel of theuser-selectable channels being served by the at least one first OTTcontent source; and dynamically replace the first playlist with thesecond playlist so that the second playlist is presented in the secondsection of the content delivery interface.
 13. The system according toclaim 12, wherein the first type is audio, the second type is video, andsaid processing the first media item means identifying the audio playingwithin reach of the electronic device.
 14. The system according to claim12, wherein each of the first and third identifying informationcomprises at least one visual image or graphic symbol.
 15. The systemaccording to claim 12, wherein a second set of user-selectable channelsis also presented in the first section of the content delivery interfacealong with the first set of user-selectable channels, theuser-selectable channels of the second set being served by the serviceprovider.
 16. The system according to claim 12, wherein the thirdidentifying information is selected to exclusively identify media assetsin a format compatible with that supported by the electronic device. 17.The system according to claim 12, wherein the third identifyinginformation is selected to exclusively identify media assets for whomthe electronic device's current location does not violate a geographicrestriction.
 18. The system according to claim 12, wherein theprogramming instructions further comprise instructions to update thesecond playlist to include fourth identifying information for new mediaitems available from the second channel of the user-selectable channelsbeing served by the at least one first OTT content source.
 19. Thesystem according to claim 12, wherein the programming instructionsfurther comprise instructions to update the second playlist to remove atleast some of the third identifying information for media items that areno longer available from the second channel of the user-selectablechannels being served by the at least one first OTT content source. 20.The system according to claim 12, wherein the second playlist isdisplayed in the second section of the content delivery interfaceconcurrently with the presentation of user-selectable identifyingsymbols for the different OTT content sources in the first section ofthe content delivery interface.